Survey: Most companies moving to the cloud

A recent survey conducted by global IT consortium the Open Group found the vast majority of organizations are moving to the cloud.

The survey, which polled 307 IT decision-makers, also found that cloud computing security remains the key concern for companies still considering cloud adoption.

According to the survey's findings, more than 90 percent of respondents indicated their companies have taken steps toward the cloud. Approximately 49 percent said their organizations have already deployed cloud-based services, while 43 percent reported that they have plans to do so. Just 8 percent indicated their companies have no cloud computing plans at all.

Cloud computing security topped the list of concerns regarding the cloud, with 18 percent of respondents citing it as their chief concern. Integration issues followed, at 15 percent, while 14 percent of respondents said governance is their biggest concern.

Some of the survey's findings may indicate a lack of preparation for cloud adoption on the part of some companies. While 55 percent of respondents said a cloud computing return on investment would be easy to justify, just 35 percent indicated they have mechanisms in place to accurately measure ROI.

Similarly, while 82 percent of those polled expect cloud computing to impact one or more business processes significantly, just 28 percent said they are ready for these changes.

"The ability to transform business is the most exciting feature of the cloud phenomenon," said Open Group Cloud Computing Work Group forum director Chris Harding. "The survey shows that users recognize that cloud computing will impact their business processes, but that they are not yet prepared to handle that impact or, in many cases, even to measure it."

The survey comes at a time when many large organizations are choosing to invest in the cloud. According to a recent Computing report, the U.K. postal service recently migrated 28,000 of its employees' IT accounts to the cloud.